Read the text carefully and then choose an appropriate word for each of the blanks given. Each word can be used once only. crawled haunted shrug crowd hit slipped huddled shielded sniffed scrambled whip limped growled work distracted

The boy remained (1)__________________ in the bushes. He had no idea how long he had been hiding there, or where he would go next. But it did not matter. Suppressing a cough, he (2)__________________ the air - so this was what freedom smelt like. Once he got away from here, he would try to find other work. He would (3)__________________ hard and then he would come back and help his friends who were still at the factory.

Earlier, he had (4)__________________ out of Mr Soames’ factory. He had no idea where he would run to; all he could think of was that he had to get away from that terrible place. Mr Soames had (5)_________________ him again this morning. Even without touching it, he could feel the dried blood on his cheek where the (6)__________________ landed. As he fled, his empty stomach (7)__________________ with hunger, and he fell several times.

Then, the boy came across a huge (8)__________________ of people. There was some sort of celebration. He remembered looking in awe at the people - he had never seen so many happy faces before… Then he felt a sudden rush of panic and hastily (9)__________________ into an alley. It was safer to stay hidden - he did not want to run into Mr Soames.

Eventually, he made his way to some big houses near the park. The place was deserted. Memories of his experience (10)__________________ him, and he started shaking with fear again. Bravely, he tried to (11)__________________ them away, but it was no use. Quietly, the small boy (12)__________________ into some bushes which were (13) _________________ by
Dr Cheah YM / Agnes Pang / Chew MK 16/6/08

a shady tree nearby. He covered his face with his little hands and tried to sleep.
Adapted from Not Always a Perfect Place by Judy Waite (Essential Texts Stage 2)